This invention relates to cartons. More particularly, this invention relates to a dispenser system for beverage and non-beverage container cartons.
Packages or cartons particularly adapted for use with containers, e.g., cans or bottles, are very well known to the prior art in the marketing of beer, soft drinks and non-beverage items. The typical carton packages a series of containers in a 2×3, 2×6, 3×4 matrix or other configuration, and is fabricated from paperboard. Often such cartons are sized to hold six, eight or twelve or even twenty-four containers for purchase by the retail consumer at grocery stores or specialty markets. Such paperboard container cartons or packages have seen widespread commercial success in the marketplace.
Fully enclosed cartons capable of enclosing containers have been used in the past and include a feature for dispensing the containers one at a time. Dispensers have been provided at various locations on these cartons depending on the design. Many of these dispensers suffer from the disadvantage that once open, they allow all of the containers to roll out. In addition, it is difficult to carry one of these cartons without the containers falling out once the dispenser has been opened. Many of these dispensers have been designed for dispensing cans or bottles which have cylindrical shapes with tops and bottoms of substantially the same size and configuration.
In effect, many of these dispensers destroy the overall carton integrity once they have been opened. Many of these dispensers do not have any means for the easy opening of the dispenser for dispensing the containers inside the carton one at a time. Furthermore, many dispensers are not set up so that the containers inside the carton roll into position for dispensing once a previous container has been removed from the carton.
A basic carton dispenser system is defined by one or more of the carton's paperboard walls, and includes a flap tear out structure of some kind or another which opens the carton only partially so that one or more, but not all, the containers may be removed in sequence as desired by the end user. One specific type of prior art carton dispenser system, and one that has seen widespread commercial use in the marketplace, is that which allows the beverage containers to be drawn out from a top or bottom forward corner of the container carton when it is stored in a refrigerator. This prior art dispenser system involves a tear out mouth in the front top or bottom corner of the container carton which extends across the width of the carton's forward end wall, and which allows the beverage container to be gripped by a user's fingers so that it can be drawn out of the carton's mouth.
The prior art dispenser systems have several disadvantages. First, and as noted, when the first container of a carton is removed from the carton's transverse mouth there is a substantial weight which bears on the next container that rolls forward for removal. And sometimes, other containers will unintentionally roll out after a first container has been removed. When subsequent containers roll out on their own against the user's desire, some may fall to the floor which could cause a safety problem. But in any event, whatever containers undesirably roll out must be returned to the carton or to the storage location, e.g., the refrigerator, with the accompanying frustration or displeasure that such an event causes.
Second, once the carton dispenser system is opened with a carton dispenser system of the transverse mouth type as described above, the closure integrity of the carton is immediately destroyed. In other words, and once the carton's transverse mouth has been opened, from a realistic standpoint it may be no longer possible to carry the carton with full containers therein by whatever handle structure is provided on the carton. This for the simple reason that in carrying the open mouth carton, the full beverage containers remaining therein may roll out the open mouth against the user's desire.
And thirdly, with a prior art carton having the transverse end mouth dispenser system as described above, the carton can be oriented only on its bottom wall in order to withdraw full containers through the carton's discharge mouth. Such prior art cartons often are of rectangular configuration, and it may be desirable to stand the carton on its end wall (which is normally of lesser length than its bottom wall) in order to save space in the environment such as a refrigerator, within which the carton is stored. But this is not possible with the prior art cartons because the opened transverse mouth would not be readily accessible to the carton's user, and containers could not be readily withdrawn therefrom if the prior art carton was stood on that end wall within which the transverse mouth was defined.
Accordingly, it has been one objective of this invention has been to provide a carton dispenser system particularly adapted for use with beverage and non-beverage containers that allows individual containers within the carton's container matrix stored to be withdrawn from that carton one at a time through a dispenser opening which maintains the structural integrity of the carton.
Another objective of this invention has been to provide a carton dispenser system particularly adapted for use with containers which may not have a pronounced crown or tapered edge such as is commonly provided on beverage containers. The dispenser allowing individual containers within the carton's container matrix stored to be withdrawn from that carton one at a time through a dispenser opening which maintains the structural integrity of the carton.